I'm your host, Jester. I've been an EVE Online player for about six years. One of my four mains is Ripard Teg, pictured at left. Sadly, I've succumbed to "bittervet" disease, but I'm wandering the New Eden landscape (and from time to time, the MMO landscape) in search of a cure.You can follow along, if you want...

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Fit of the Week: Light Missile Crow

Let's talk interceptors for a couple of weeks! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite ships in EVE Online:

The nice thing about the Crow is that it's a tough little ship! This one approaches 6k EHP with just a decent FC. The Damage Control and anti-EM rig do a nice job of closing what could potentially be a nasty EM hole, and the MSE does the heavy lifting. But the really cool thing is that the sig on this little monster is under 100 meters, which is damn good for a frigate under MWD, and drops to 45m without an MWD running, which a lot of stealth bombers can't match!

Thanks to the poly rig, the ship overcomes the natural Caldari propensity toward slowness with an unheated speed of about 4000m/s. That allows you to put up a tremendous transversal number and between that and the small sig makes you damned hard for larger weapons to hit. The combination really assists the 6k EHP and makes it seem like a lot more. You can emphasize the ship's strengths using X-Instinct booster as well.

DPS is rather poor, at only 65, but the fun way to use this ship is in a big mass of eight or ten, supported by heavier DPS interceptors like Taranises providing scrams. You can fit virtually any type of electronic warfare you like in the spare mid slot, which makes the overall fleet really versatile. Some should carry painters, others tracking disruptors... but again, you can mix it up however you like and put together a pretty effective fleet. The DPS may sound low but just tonight Rote Kapelle knocked down a heavily tanked cyno Maller with not very much more than a flock of Crows.

You'll notice that many of us are using Fury missiles, which the Arbalest LMLs are incapable of firing. While this fit is relatively easy to get into (downshift the MSE to meta if you're having trouble), the T2 LML fitting is ridiculously, ludicrously tight:

You don't have as many e-war options unfortunately, and you're quite a bit thinner. But you trade 1k of EHP for an additional 300m/s, which in the hands of an experienced frigate pilot isn't too bad of a trade. But again, this fit is murderously tight and only maximum skilled pilots will be able to manage it. Consider it a goal to work toward, because the Fury Light Missiles add another 20 DPS, which isn't too bad once it's multiplied by ten or so... ;-)

Best of all, both ships have a really terrific engagement profile: you can point things at between 30 and 35km (with an overheated point) and inflict damage right out to the limit of your lock range. It's a fun and engaging way to fly! As I said, I'm enjoying it immensely right now. And the warp speed changes and bubble immunity are the icing on a very fine cake.

Have fun!

All Fits of the Week are intended as general guidelines only. You
may not have the skills needed for this exact fit. If you do not, feel
free to adjust the fit to suit to meet your skills, including using meta
3 guns and "best named" defenses and e-war. Ships can also be adjusted
to use faction or dead-space modules depending on the budget of the
pilot flying it. Each FOTW is intended as a general guide to introduce
you to concepts that will help you fit and to fly that particular type
of ship more aggressively and well.

I have played around with crow fits and agree that T2 launchers make it incredibly tight. So much so that I struggled to find any fit I really liked. Either having no tank or weak DPS.The closest I came was one similar to your T2 fit, except with a BCS instead of a DC and a somewhat silly kiting ASB fit which needs a 3% CPU implant to fit.93 DPS to 63km with faction, 114DPS to 47km with fury. Smaller sig, more tank, less buffer and speed.Not idea yet if it will actually work, so far just an EFT-warrior exercise and I don;t like having to use so many fitting mods.

[Crow, ASB MAPC]Ballistic Control System IICo-Processor IIMicro Auxiliary Power Core I

Not bad. But, try swapping in HVO rigs and running your inty gang to places where you've never gone before... lol. With the new warp speed changes and the bubble immunity, you'll be amazed at how much of the EVE universe you can now roam with impunity.

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